Chapter Sixty-Nine: First Glimmer of Sharpness

The Trial of the Sacred was also something that had only arisen in the past century. The strongest among humanity combined the most profound mastery of wards, the most exquisite combat skills, and their abundant experience, then supplemented these with extraordinary forging arts. After centuries of effort, they finally created a Sacred Trial Ground.

This was a proving ground built specifically for the gifted of humankind, enabling those who entered to receive the finest tempering. Yet, each use of the Sacred Trial Ground consumed an enormous amount of energy. Even in the Spirit Battle Pavilion, where spiritual energy was exceptionally dense, it would take a full two years to recover after a single use. Thus, it became common knowledge that the Sacred Trial was held once every two years.

To participate in the Sacred Trial was the dream of every student. It was said that every trialist who entered the Sacred Trial Ground would return with tremendous benefit. However, since the trial opened only once every two years and lasted just ten days each time, the number of participants from among the Pavilion’s million students was extremely limited.

Resources were scarce, and the points required to enter were immense—no less than two thousand. Most students, even if they didn’t spend a single point for years, would still struggle to accumulate so much. Even members of the Earth Division would find it exceedingly difficult to gather two thousand points in two years.

Furthermore, all resources in the four Divisions had to be exchanged for with points. For most people, spending all their points just to enter the Sacred Trial was an unwise bargain.

This time, however, anyone who could earn the recognition of all fifteen chief instructors in the competition would be granted entry to the Sacred Trial without needing any points. This was an enormous encouragement and reward for newcomers.

“I must seize this opportunity!” Chu Feng silently vowed within the Ninth Squad. Without a doubt, this was an unparalleled chance for tempering oneself.

Xiao Yue had already reminded him: to gain the recognition of the chief instructors, one had to display their strongest abilities.

On one side of the spectator stands, a girl in red stood scanning the thousands gathered from the Twentieth Division, as if searching for someone.

This was none other than Sun Xuan, a renowned figure in the Newcomers Division. If others recognized her presence here, it would surely cause a great commotion.

“Sun Xuan, what’s gotten into you lately? You’re always so mysterious. And now you dragged me here—what’s so interesting about this Twentieth Division competition?” said the girl in purple at Sun Xuan’s side. She was the same age as Sun Xuan, only nine years old.

Her name was Xie Xiaolan, herself an extraordinary talent with a formidable reputation in the First Division.

“Just watch. A miracle might happen here today,” Sun Xuan replied cryptically, her gaze ceaselessly searching the crowd. But there were simply too many people; she ultimately failed to spot the one she sought.

Xie Xiaolan shook her head, clearly unconvinced, yet Sun Xuan offered no further explanation.

Before long, the twenty chief instructors arrived one after another, taking their seats in order according to their division numbers.

Of the twenty, the two most pleased with themselves were, naturally, those seated at the far left—the chief instructors of the First and Second Divisions.

For them, watching the competitions of the later divisions was a mere formality. According to tradition, those who earned the approval of more than fifteen chief instructors always came from the earlier divisions; the later ones had never produced such candidates.

At the far right sat a middle-aged man, chief instructor of the Twentieth Division—Pang Xian. On this day, he could hardly hide his dejection.

To his mind, it was one thing for the later divisions’ instructors to attend—they were all in the same boat, unable to mock one another. But for the chief instructors of the earlier divisions to come, it was a mere pretense at best, and mockery at worst.

After all, though the Twentieth Division boasted five thousand students, hardly any could stand out. In the earlier divisions, especially the First and Second, even the competitors were at least First-tier Earth Spirit Warriors.

At this moment, with the competition yet to begin, Pang Xian sat gloomily, sipping tea, wishing the day would pass quickly.

“Don’t be so down, brother. Cheer up—it’s all just going through the motions. Tomorrow it’ll be my turn,” said the chief instructor of the Nineteenth Division beside him.

Pang Xian sighed, “Look at those few over there, so full of themselves, their tails are nearly in the clouds.”

“Well, they have the strength to back it up,” the Nineteenth’s instructor replied.

Soon, the competition was about to start. The contestants from each squad of the Twentieth Division emerged and gathered on the dueling platform. Among them, naturally, were Chu Feng and Xu Yan.

This sparked a wave of chatter among the crowd, the students of the Twentieth Division discussing their own local celebrities.

Outsiders, however, knew nothing of them. On the platform, Chu Feng stood out—a silver robe, a longsword slung across his back, and a notably mature bearing for his age, making him the center of attention.

There were others as tall as Chu Feng, but none with his air of composure.

He drew the same curiosity from the crowd as when the Twentieth Division first discovered him—none had expected such an unusual newcomer.

Even the assembled chief instructors couldn’t help but glance at Pang Xian with a trace of bemusement in their eyes.

“Brother, you’re not going to tell me that swordsman is only fourteen?” the Nineteenth Division’s instructor teased.

Pang Xian said nothing, but, feeling all eyes upon him, was a bit embarrassed. It was as if they were thinking, “So your Twentieth Division really is scraping the bottom of the barrel, needing such characters to fill the ranks.”

Privately, Pang Xian cursed whichever instructor had stuck him with this embarrassment: “Which wretch did this to me? Deliberately setting me up for ridicule—just wait, I’ll deal with you later.”

After the drawing of lots, Chu Feng received number twenty-seven and would compete on Arena One.

Each arena had a designated overseer who would call out the numbers before each match.

With the official start, ten contestants appeared on the five arenas at the overseers’ call.

For the twenty chief instructors, the matches held little interest. But for the new students of the Twentieth Division and visitors from other divisions, there was much to see—these were, after all, the elite culled from five thousand.

One match after another passed, with both victories and defeats. Only Xu Yan and Shi Fei caught the chief instructors’ attention, for both were First-tier Earth Spirit Warriors who had already awakened their spiritual attributes—especially Xu Yan, whose strength was impressive enough that even many in the First Division might not be her match.

Yet this was still far from enough for the Sacred Trial. To earn the chief instructors’ approval, one needed truly formidable strength, for there was real danger in the Sacred Trial. If they were not strict, they would only harm the students.

At last, it was Chu Feng’s turn. Sword in hand, he strode steadily onto the arena, neither hurried nor slow.

The chief instructors all looked over. While none expected a particularly outstanding performance, they were curious to see this unusual youth—perhaps simply for the novelty.

Their attention to this boy far exceeded that given to the others, though not out of expectation—this was, after all, the Twentieth Division’s competition, never known for producing surprises.

“Heh, the little swordsman finally takes the stage,” the Nineteenth Division’s instructor remarked with a grin. “You have to admit, he’s got presence.”

Pang Xian, still glum, glared but said nothing, his gaze returning to the sword-bearing youth, inwardly baffled at how such a student had ended up in his division.

The match began—and ended—with astonishing speed. In a blur, the sword flashed, and suddenly Chu Feng’s blade was at his opponent’s throat. The entire exchange seemed to occur in an instant, catching everyone off guard.

“What swordsmanship!”

“What explosive power!” two chief instructors exclaimed, while the others wore looks of shock. That strike was both swift and uncanny, its deadly force unmistakable. In a single move, the boy had revealed his extraordinary nature.

A hush fell over all those watching Arena One, everyone wearing expressions of astonishment.

Those who hadn’t been watching at first, on seeing this, were first puzzled and then stunned—the fight had ended in the blink of an eye.

A wave of commotion swept through the hall. The uninitiated marveled that such a figure could emerge from the Twentieth Division, while those in the know were equally amazed at how powerful Chu Feng had become.

The chief instructor of the Tenth Division nodded, “That strike—never mind that his opponent hadn’t awakened their spiritual attribute, even a Second-tier Earth Spirit Warrior might not have blocked it easily. This youth is remarkable. Who would have thought the Twentieth Division would produce someone like this?”

Clearly, the Tenth Division’s instructor approved of Chu Feng. Others from the later divisions did as well, nodding in approval. For the Twentieth Division, someone like this was no small feat.

The instructors from the earlier divisions, however, remained silent. They neither nodded nor shook their heads. Chu Feng’s performance was just about enough to meet their threshold, but they wanted to observe him further.

In truth, they had underestimated the power of that sword strike. Chu Feng had gone all out; not to mention a Second-tier Earth Spirit Warrior—even a Third-tier might not have defended so easily.

But as mere observers, they could not fully grasp the force contained in his attack.

At this moment, the instructor from the Eighth Division asked, “This youth is very unusual. Why didn’t he use spirit transformation? Is he hiding his true strength?”

Others shared this suspicion. While some contestants used weapons only in part, all of them had used spirit transformation—except for this boy.

Puzzled, they all turned once more to Pang Xian.

At that moment, Pang Xian was still somewhat dazed by this sudden turn of fortune; happiness had come so abruptly that he felt dizzy.

Looking at the others, Pang Xian grinned and said, “I’ll find out right away.”

“Who trained this student? Come over here at once,” Pang Xian spoke into a high-grade messaging talisman, his excitement evident. He promptly relayed the message to all instructors, feeling quite pleased as he thought, “Ah, whoever trained him, you’ve really done me proud. I’ll have to reward you handsomely.”